State Capitol News

2:10 am

Wed May 7, 2008

Williams can use illegal well

Phoenix, AZ – State senators agreed this morning to let Williams continue pumping water from an illegally drilled well. But as Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer reports, they want to be sure this kind of thing does not happen again.

The city drilled wells about a dozen years ago after gettingpermission from the state Department of Water Resources. Onlything is, one is not in its own groundwater basin but in anadjacent one. And state laws pretty much prevent moving waterfrom one basin to another. Rather than make Williams spend themoney on another well -- one that might not produce water -- thisspecial measure lets the city keep using this well. But lawmakersincluded a series of special restrictions which Sen. Jake Flakesaid narrows the scope of this law to the unique circumstanceshere.

(Due to the topographical and geographical limitations of theparticular land area in which the wells were drilled, thislimited exception to the groundwater interbasin transferprohibition does not serve as a precedent and will not be a long-term solution to rural areas' water supply needs.)

The measure specificaly applies only use to communites of fewerthan 8,000 residents and only where state officials determinewells were drilled by mistake. And it caps pumping at about 228million gallons a year. The bill needs final House approvalbefore going to the governor.